Smoking banned on Oakland campus starting fall 2013

Smokers at Oakland University will have to stomp out their butts when they return to classes in fall 2013.

The new policy is a revision of policy 475, OU’s non-smoking policy in existence since February 1990.

The last revision in August of this past year required smokers to remove themselves from an area within 50 feet of buildings.

An initiative of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, the policy is approved through the Vice President of Finance and Administration John Beaghan.

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Environmental Health and Life Safety Manager Cora Hanson said this is part of OU’s ongoing commitment to health.

“We just opened our brand-new Human Health Building,” she said. “We recently started a new medical school. We’ve been very active on campus in terms of promoting healthier lifestyles for our students, faculty and staff.”

Hanson said that no level of secondhand smoke is safe.

“That’s really been our focus all along is this notion of cleaner air,” she said. “This is an opportunity for people to enter and leave the building and not have to walk through a cloud of smoke.”

Student Body President Samantha Wolf acknowledged the challenges this might pose for some student smokers, but she thought this was a positive change for the campus community.

“We have the ones that are smokers and would prefer to continue smoking on campus, and then we also have the students who don’t smoke and see this as beneficial moving toward the future,” Wolf said. “From (a Student Congress) point, this is going in a healthy direction.”

Rachel Dixon, a pre-nursing student at Oakland University is excited to see the ban put in place.

“I love the ban,” Dixon said. “Ever since I saw a few other campuses going tobacco-free, I’ve been waiting for OU to.”

She said she felt it would benefit people with allergies to not have to deal with going through the smoke.

Dixon also said many people do not follow the 50-foot rule because of the close proximity of the bins to buildings.

Not everyone is so happy about the change.

Student Xhejni Cuni, a Spanish major, is a smoker. He said although he is trying to quit, it helps him relax.

“Smoking helps me relieve my stress all the time,” he said. “It just gives me that break. If you’re stressing with classes, you just come out and have a cigarette.”

Hanson said that OU has a variety of smoking cessation resources available for the campus community. One program offers eight sessions over the course of seven weeks.

Another program, “iQuit,” offers participants individual coaching via email and information on how they can stay off nicotine.

FYI

A list of resources for those trying to quit smoking is available at www.oakland.edu/smokefreeyou.